anaphylactic shock

Has anyone had to experience their child (or a loved one) going into severe anaphylactic shock??

I did over the weekend when my beautiful 4 year old DD reacted to either shell fish (which she has eaten on a number of occasions before -- there is no history of allergies in our family.. we never remember seeing any previous smaller symptoms after eating anything)... or a wasp sting (she complained after dinner of hurting her foot on something.. we were at a cottage and the kids were playing on the shoreline -- she could have very well stepped on some stinging insect).

We just don't know what caused it .. but her reaction was so sudden and so severe -- swollen face, eyes, ears, hives all over her body, extreme itching.. horrible cough... sore throat..... agitated.. vomiting. It was awful.. it has scared the heck out of me...

We rushed her to the hospital.. had called an ambulance to meet us en route.... spent most of the night in the hospital to stabilize her.

She now has to carry an epi pen wherever she goes. It was just so unbelievably scary and I can't stop thinking of the image of her tiny, pale body lying on this giant hospital bed, surrounded by wires and beeping machines and it was just horrible....

How has anyone else dealt with the fear that there might be another severe reaction on the horizon?

My FIL is severely allergic to peanuts, and must carry an epi pen and also takes a certain medication everyday to help control any mild contact with his allergen. As anyone with a peanut allergy, or a child with an allergy knows, they are very hard to avoid. Honestly, he just lives his life, but is smart about the choices he makes reguarding food and social situations that may involve what triggers his reaction.

So glad your LO is okay, and hopefully you won't have to deal with anything like that anytime soon!

I'm so sorry your lil one went thru that! You too...how scary. As far as we know, Ethan does not have allergies. My mom is severely allergic to shell fish...it came on later...in her 30's. I remember her eating lobster then all of a sudden not being able to breathe. I was young and it was scary.

I'm a special ed teacher now and have encountered a few kids with epi pens...though I've never had to administer them. I had a kid last year with asthma...his mom told me it was mild and he'd hardly ever need his inhaler. Well, the 3rd day of school he came to me, unable to take a breath, fear in his eyes. Scared the shit outta me. We carried that inhaler everywhere we went after that! I feel like no matter how much they train me I'm never going to lose that panicky feeling when there's an emergency...much less with my own kid! Sounds like you handled it excellently!

My DS has to carry an epi-pen. We have a history of severe allergies to bees/wasps/etc. in my family (me included) - and he has a skin condition that makes him 75% more like to be highly allergic to stings. I don't like those odds. (He hasn't been stung (yet), thank goodness.)

Honestly, I find the less I think about it the better. I am very careful about outdoor play - but while it's so very easy to think about 'next time' I came to conclusion a while ago that I'd make myself crazy by focusing on it. I try to mediate my own fears while letting him be a kid. He's never outside unsupervised, but I don't limit his activities (per se). I could very easily let this fear rule my life and thus my DS. We go about our day knowing we are prepared should the worst happen. I don't know if that makes any sense at all... but I hope it's at least a little helpful.

Are they going to do a allergy test? They could identify the likely allergen (of the two) that way and you'd have more peace of mind instead of wondering which one caused the allergy and having to worry about both! Due to DS' skin condition they can't do a prick test, and they want to wait for a blood test until he's older.

No, but this is one of my greatest fears. I have allergies and so does DH. We both have epipens just in case. Our doc is very cautious. I am SO sorry you had to go through this; my DS had a febrile seizure once and I found that hard enough; I can't imagine.

Thank you so much everyone.... I just can't stop crying... but thank you so much everyone and esp to Kate... your advice is perfect. I have been driving myself nuts (as well as DH) by completely obsessing over this.

I keep coming up with these scenarios in my mind. But I can't put her in a bubble... we have to live our lives... but as you said... just know that we are now prepared and know what to look for.

I am following up with the allergy clinic today... I assume I will be getting news at some point this week about an appointment.

Thanks again everyone.. this is so, so scary.

PS - Made38... so sorry about DS and the febrile seizure.. that is so, so scary and devastating to watch. We had friends whose DD at 2 years had a febrile seizure and I remember how scary the entire situation was. I am glad he is doing well now.

My dd had a peanut allergy and has an epi pen for us and one for school as well as liquid steriod meds. We discovered her allergy when she was 2 due to a reaction, no known food allergies in either of our families before this. There is a food allergy board on here that is really helpful,

My DD is ana to a few things and has quite a bit of allergies. She had ana reaction 2 years ago to an unknown item. We were in a food store, she was in the shopping cart, she touched the cart, put her hands in her mouth and had a ana reaction. We still dont know what it was to. She started complaining about her mouth hurting, then swelling, hives, vomiting, diarhea, and she stopped breathing. I popped her with the epi and it saved her life. I will say that after having been thru that it takes a while to get over. I was terrified to take her anywhere. We knew she had allergies before and made modifications to keep her safe. She isnt allowed in restaurants and food stores cause her allergies are so bad. I recommend allergy testing but even that is used as a guide. You may not find out what caused the reaction. The best way to deal with it is to be prepared and have a plan. Know how to use the epi, know what the signs and symptoms are of a reaction etc. If you are debating whether you should use it, use it. It is better to react too soon then not react at all. DD had a few reactions where I should have epi'd and didnt. When she had this reaction 2 years ago I was prepared and knew what to do and it saved her life. PMAN if you want to chat further. Glad your DD is ok. GL

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Kristin

DD multiple food allergies.

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